How did your father impact your professional career?

My Dad was a Carpenter and Cabinet Maker. Very skilled and wise. We were never well off and all repairs and maintenance had to be done in the family. I learned carpentry, plumbing, electrical installation and maintenance at an early age (at 10, I installed a central heating system that still works to this day, 44 years later). My Dad wanted me to be a professional man - a Doctor as that was the pinnacle of his expectations, I wanted to be an Engineer and do practical hands on stuff like he did.

To this day, I have a burning desire to understand how things work and how Engineers have done stuff.

He impacted it by not being there. I learned two very important things:

1. To be more self-reliant.
2. To be a good father, do the opposite of what my father did.

After my junior year in high school my father took me to work with him for the summer as a plumber's helper. It took me one week to realize that plumbing is hard work and that college may be a better option. After a 4 year enlistment in the Air Force I did go to college for engineering and then grad school for environmental engineering (my Dad's suggestion but it took me two years to select it. I wanted to be structural engineer but it was too easy and boring) and eventually to business school for an MBA when I wanted to learn how to be an effective business manager.

My father found a union laborer's job for my brother 4 years earlier and he went into accounting, CPA. My father may have been a plumber but he was much wiser than I had realized when I was young. By the way, union plumbers in my area are paid about $50 an hour. Not bad but it is still hard work but it is hard to outsource plumbing to another country.

My father is one of the most compassionate men I've met. Yes, I'm his daughter so it's probably a natural thing for me to say; but I've heard this from so many people who've had the opportunity to be associated with him--family, friends or people he's worked with.

He has an amazing capacity to know you & like you for who you are; to understand you & to forgive--all this without judgement or prejudice. He owns the term "people-person".

Because of his ability to be this way, he has chaired many humanitarian & charity organizations in his community (Minneapolis, MN) & has won awards for his years of service in these fields. At a young 87, he's still active in the community, putting himself out there & always willing to help those who need it.

So how did this help me? I learned all about building relationships, reaching out & getting along with people from him. As a business owner, I'm grateful to my father for showing me that people count first & foremost & without a connection with them I won't have success.

Thanks Dad!

To be blunt...not at all!

Through complete coincidence, I ended up working in the same sector as my dad and we often have conversations about the companies that we are both dealing with!
My dad has always been positive in every venture that i've wanted to run with and hasn't pushed me into anything that I didn't want to do. Maybe its just fate that i've ended up in the same industry...

Recommended that I follow my strengths. He was a skunk, but a smart man, nonetheless.

I adored my late father. He told me, "you can do anything you want to do, if you simply work for it." I followed that belief all my life and have pretty much done everything I have ever wanted to do, including working in Human Resources.

Thanks, Daddy.

He was an entreprenuer...always confident in his abilities to achieve whatever he set his mind too. I learned that no one was going to pay me more than they could make off of me. Set my path in life and one that I have enjoyed thoroughly. Thanks Dad.

My dad taught me to do what I enjoy, work hard, and never stop learning. His strong work ethic was a huge influence on my career. In addition, he taught me how to take responsibility for every action good or bad. Thanks Dad!

What great stories! I am really enjoying following this.

My father is a Carpenter and i am Software Consultant. Both of us professional is different but i learned alot from my father like how to be committed to your task and do it with your extreme power.
Thanks my Father. I am praying for your good and happy life.